I can’t think of the last time that I read or saw a Bill Murray interview, but he did a very interesting one with mailonsunday that has been making the rounds, large in part due to a confirmation of a Ghostbusters rumor that has been floating around (don’t read on if you don’t want to know the potential spoiler). You should definitely read through the whole interview, but I’ll highlight the parts that I found the most interesting below.

On Awards
“I don’t approve of awards ceremonies. I should never have attended the Oscars (when he was nominated for Lost In Translation but lost to Sean Penn). I was angry at myself. Comedy never gets the Oscar. Groundhog Day was one of the greatest scripts ever written. It didn’t even get nominated for an Academy Award. And a movie called Dave won, which was a rehash of a movie about a Spanish dictator who died and had an actor replace him. How can that be the best original screenplay? Laughter and the lighter moments of life always seem easy to deliver. I don’t expect those giving out the awards to understand.” [My Note: While nominated, Dave actually didn't win Best Original Screenplay that year, but rather The Piano did]

On Working With Him
“People say I’m difficult and sometimes that’s a badge of honour. At work I’m just nothing but trouble with anything I don’t want to do. And I fired my agents. I said I didn’t ever want to speak to them again, and I never did. It saved me money but mostly it stopped the irritation of the endless phone calls. … If you are working with me and you are unprofessional I will dismiss you completely. When our relationship is professional, and you’re not doing what you’re supposed to, forget it.”

On Ghostbusters
“I almost felt like I could quit after Broken Flowers in 2005. I thought that was as good as I could do and I should stop. I’ll come back in Ghostbusters III only if I get to be a ghost. I said to them, ‘I’ll do it if you kill me off in the first reel.’ So now they are going to have me as a ghost in the film. The first 45 minutes of the original Ghostbusters is some of the funniest stuff ever made. The second one was disappointing, because the special-effects guys took over. I had something like two scenes – and they’re the only funny ones in the movie.”

The news about Ghostbusters hits a little hard, seeing as the first movie is probably my favorite comedy of all time, mostly due to Bill Murray’s portrayal as Peter Venkman. The entire idea of him in the movie as a ghost is not just unappealing, but sounds disastrous in a Crystal Skull sequel kind of way that I really don’t want much part of. Either way, I found the interview surprisingly candid and very interesting. I love this guy.